Iowa State and Iowa State Research Park are working together to bring a new state of the art biologics center to Ames.

Steven Carter, director of the ISU Research Park, said the building will be a pilot-scaled biologics center, a research and development facility that will extract proteins from plants.

Proteins extracted from plants have many uses, Carter said.

“Some of the proteins from plants are used in the pharmaceutical business and for industrial reasons,” Carter said. “By having the biologics center here in Iowa, the plants would provide a range of benefits as a production platform.”

There is a growing industry for plant protein extraction in Iowa, he said.

“Most of the plants [that] proteins are extracted from are grown in Iowa,” Carter said.

There are a number of logical reasons to have the biologic center in Ames, he said.

“It just makes sense to have it here in Ames because Iowa State has the expertise through its faculty and students,” Carter said. “Iowa’s future is in the plant-based industry.”

The facility is being funded through several key resources, Carter said.

“We are in the process of meeting with some of the funders to decide how much of their resources we will need to use,” Carter said.

James Bloedel, vice provost of research administration, said some debt may be incurred in order to fund getting the center in Ames.

“It would be much like paying a mortgage on a house, but it would be paid off in the first few years of production,” Bloedel said.

Funding is also being provided at the state and congressional level.

Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, is working to obtain $750,000 through a federal spending bill to fund the center, Bloedel said.

Bloedel said he and Carter have been working on this project since he came to Iowa State three years ago.

“It evolved from a series of meetings held three years ago to stimulate the economy,” he said.

Bloedel said he and Carter made the commitment to try to develop the lab at the Iowa State Research Park.

“It will be a great stimulus for Iowa and in our region,” he said. “It’s a new industry and if Iowa invests in it, it will become profitable.”

Iowa State and the Iowa State Research Center aren’t the only ones trying to get the center here in Ames, Carter said.

“We are working with the Ames Chamber of Commerce and some state officials,” he said.

The funding and operational logistics are being finalized now, although there is no set date for when the center will break ground, Carter said.